Jun 2, 2007 10:47 pm US/Central
Shark Attacks N. Texas Woman at S.C. Beach
(CBS 11 News)
-
-
A close up look at Susan Dornquast's right leg with more than 40 stitches from where a bull shark bit her during a South Carolina trip to the beach.
CBS 11 News
Susan Dornquast was at a South Carolina beach standing knee-deep when she felt something brush against her legs.
It turned out to be a bull shark.
"They said this one could be about a five footer. I couldn't imagine one that big coming up to shore like that," the victim explained. "Well, I didn't know that much about sharks."
That day while she took a break from a bowling tournament, she learned a lesson that will last a life time.
Now resting at home back in North Texas, the woman's leg clearly shows the animal's markings and more than 40 stitches.
From the size of the mouth mark -- 9 inches wide -- doctors estimate the bull shark was 5 feet long, which is 1 foot shy of similar 6-foot bull sharks that live at the Dallas World Aquarium.
Moments before the attack, Dornquast and her husband were taking pictures along the shore line at South Carolina's Murrell Inlet beach.
"I felt it hit this leg and I thought that was more than water," she recalled. "And, I looked down and I seen the shark going off. I went to move this leg and I thought, 'uh, oh, something's wrong. That shark must've got my leg.' "
A local marine biologist said it's not uncommon to find sharks close to shore.
"Sharks, especially the bull sharks like we have in here, tend to feed in shallow water towards the later afternoons and early mornings," the Aquarium's Paula Branshaw explained.
Branshaw called the attack "a case of mistaken identity." The chances of a shark attack are 1 in 11.5 million, she added.
Following Dornquast's encounter, she let a Myrtle Beach paper know and displays their story about her experience.
She thankful it wasn't worse.
"I can walk on it, move my foot. The Lord blessed me with that."
Dornquast also is thankful no one else was injured, including the mother and toddler who waded close by her. She does not want to know what would have happened if the child had been in the water.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
